MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The security situation in northern Iraq remains a concern for U.S. forces preparing to depart the country, a top military commander said.
Baghdad this week backed the partial Cabinet announced by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, ending a political stalemate that lingered since March parliamentary elections.
Arabs, Kurds and ethnic minority groups sprinkled throughout Iraq's north, however, are squabbling over access to oil, autonomy and the so-called disputed territories, a swath of land stretching from Sinjar in the northwest to Khanaqin in the east.
U.S. Col. Larry Swift, who commands U.S. military forces in Kirkuk, told The Wall Street Journal he wasn't sure what would happen in the north once U.S. forces leave for good at the end of 2011.
"No one knows what exactly is going to happen when we unplug completely from here," he said.
Violence targeting the Iraqi Christian population traditionally based in the north displaced as much as half of the ethnic minority community in 2008. An al-Qaida attack on a Christian church in Baghdad in October killed at least 60 people and left nearly 100 severely injured.
Services for the Christmas holiday in Iraq are muted in the face of new threats. Many masses are canceled on what is one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar.
